Good Music

Check out the new Death Cab for Cutie song, "I Will Possess Your Heart," from their new album (released yesterday), "Narrow Stairs." Great song. Great album.

Note to self...

When possible, avoid asking a professor to be your thesis adviser when he lives in Israel nine months out of the year.

'Four Minutes' of Non-Art

I want to take a moment to abuse this personal blog as a platform for opinions. Have you heard the recent Madonna/Justin Timberlake song, "Four Minutes" produced by Timbaland? It's awful. And, I feel as someone who has actually enjoyed certain, past, joint musical efforts by JT and Timbaland, I possess a legitimacy in the assertion. Besides possessing a nearly identical beat and song structure to past works, the song is completely devoid of lyrical substance or creativity. Granted, it's a song developed for the hip-hop/pop/dance genre. And, it is catchy--which is part of the point, I recognize. (Good luck getting it out of your head once you've heard it.) However, the line must be drawn somewhere. Even popular music should be held accountable to creative scrutiny at some level. There, I've said my peace. Back to the thesis.

Lake Front 10

My friend Carolyn and I ran the Chicago Lake Front 10 this morning, a ten-mile race along Lake Michigan in the city. Carolyn's in my program at UChicago and the niece of Tim Keller, for those of you for whom that means anything. We got together with some other CIR friends last night for a pasta dinner/carb-load fest, then got up at the ***-crack of dawn to get parking before the race. (Hence the bed-head). Anyway, it was fun! I met my goal (1:04) and she exceeded her's, running something like 1:24. I'm in recovery now, trying to get some work done for classes this week (of course excluding this procrastinatory moment).

In other news, my thesis is due in less than two weeks and I present my draft to my thesis group tomorrow night--yikes!!!

Another Door Closed

I found out this morning that I was not accepted for the International Alert internship position. It's disappointing to be rejected, but I had reservations about moving to London for another 6 months. So, I'm OK with it. Back to the hunt!

P.S. I finished and submitted the first draft of my thesis on Saturday morning!

Surprises and Opportunities

Now into my third week of this quarter, things are off and running--even literally. I'm contemplating running in the Lake Front Ten, a ten-mile run along Lake Michigan here on April 27th. Though I have yet to officially register. It's prime thesis writing time so we'll see if I feel I can spare the time.

With the pressure of the end of my academic career quickly approaching (for now), jobs are on the forefront of my mind. I've only just attended a job fair on campus and talked to a number of government and non-profit organizations. Another important fair will be coming up in two weeks or so that I'll be sure to attend as well. I'm beginning to realize though, that internships will most likely be the route to take in my pursuit of a career. Many entry level positions in the job market I'm hoping to enter even require internship experience. That said, paid internships are few and far between. It may require that I just work somewhere to pay the bills and 'volunteer' for an internship position 15-20 hours a week.

However, I did just recently apply for a 6-month paid internship with International Alert, an NGO based out of London. So yes, it would mean working in London for 6 months. Simply put, the nature of the position is ideal. It's a research assistant position, aiding the secretary general in international research, collecting sources and compiling bibliographies over regions of conflict all over the world in a effort to develop solutions for peace. Check out http://www.international-alert.org/ if you want more details. Basically, the position is a step toward what I really want to do. I'm not sure when I'll know if I'm accepted or not or even if I'll take it if I am accepted. Though from what I understand of it, I think it's a pretty good example of what I would like to do. I will do my best to keep you updated.

In other news, I flew home (Lincoln) this weekend to surprise Courtney and attend the final production of her UNL career. I hadn't made a show yet this year--it was fun to see her perform again. She did very well; and she was very surprised. It was a quick trip, but really good to see her and family as well. I had a lot of time with my parents (which was a good thing) who picked me up from the airport as well as my extended family--we celebrated my grandparents' 60th anniversary in Beatrice on Sunday afternoon.

Well, I should probably go. My first draft of my thesis is due Friday and I have quite a bit to do--so I'll be busy. Hope this finds you all well!

Baking with my Courtney (SB '08!)